Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2021, issue 76, Wetland Wildlife i Eco Kids Planet Magazine

Bet your very first thoughts were: who is that cute ’ickle furball? I’m Vinny the water vole! And, yes, I look like a giant, chubby, swimming hamster with a furry tail. My teeny ears are almost invisible because my head is ad-or-ab-ly furry! Not to mention my tiddly, del-i-cate paws… (Cuteness overload or what?!) Hold up! Time to get serious. We water voles are BRITAIN’S FASTEST-DECLINING MAMMAL – not so cute, right? But WHY? HOW? I hear you. Reason no. 1: Habitat loss Water voles make cosy burrows in riverbanks and munch on the grass growing nearby. But when humans ‘support’ the banks of rivers with concrete, where does that leave us? Homeless, that’s where! And don’t even get me started on the heavy-hooved cows that gobble the grass and trample…

Now let’s explore a truly mini wetland. Puddles may ooze with mud, but do they also ooze with life? Eco Kids Rhona and Rusty have a superpower – they can shrink to a tiny size – so they investigated one! Rhona: Well, this makes a change from you just jumping in muddy puddles, Rusty! Rusty: I jumped in this one yesterday. But now I’m swimming around in it, I wish I hadn’t. It’s like a universe of weird creatures! Rhona: Most of them are bacteria and there’s plenty of algae, too. Rusty: Algae? That gooey, green stuff? Rhona: Yes, many people hate it when it covers their ponds, but algae are really important. They create most of a pond’s oxygen. I can see some daphnia eating it. Rusty: What are…

A delta is a triangular piece of land at the mouth of a river; a swampy wetland that forms where a river flows into a larger body of water, such as the sea or a lake. Close your eyes and imagine a dry, empty desert. Then think of a flooded wetland, where lush vegetation is home to a huge diversity of creatures, big and small. Now try to imagine that this desert and wetland are one and the same place: a vast, watery marsh in an otherwise dry area. This is the incredible Okavango Delta, a jewel in the heart of the Kalahari Desert. The Okavango Delta is 18,000 square kilometres of wetland wilderness, bursting with wildlife. Not only is it the largest inland delta in the world but it’s also one of the best…

Congratulations to our three winners! EcoBreaker “I decided to make a cloud monster that changes the climate. EcoBreaker has many powers and gadgets to destroy Earth. He eats coal, then blows smoke, causing pollution and thinning the ozone layer. The blade is to cut down trees so we have less oxygen. His fire hand is to make forest fires to scare animals to show who is boss.” Fire Monster “I made a fire monster – it is heating up the world. I drew an aeroplane, which made the monster angry, and a tree and a person who is sad.” Runners-up To see more amazing entries from our readers, go to: https://www.ecokidsplanet.co.uk/global-warming-monster…

Wetlands are places where water covers land or is at or near its surface. They’re very soggy and sometimes muddy, mushy, slimy and slippery. But every living thing needs water to survive, so they attract lots of wildlife. When a wetland forms, wildlife is quick to find it, without any help from humans. They support all kinds of creatures, from fish and frogs to crocodiles and hippos – and many wild plants, too. Here are some different types: MARSHES are wetlands with mineral-rich soil. Most of their plant life is grasses or grass-like. Rice grows in marshes, supplying much of the world’s grain. Forest fans might prefer SWAMPS. They’re like marshes but most of their plant life is trees. Rivers are the main water supply of both swamps and marshes.…

Charlie: When I heard I was meeting a Chinese water deer, I expected a holiday to China. Instead, I’m in a marshy place in eastern England called the Fens. It’s one of the places in the UK where a few live wild, although they’re the country’s rarest deer. I’m a bit worried because they have big fangs, and I don’t know if they’re friendly. Hey, there’s one rubbing his head on a tree – that’s weird. He’s heard me. Now he’s coming over. He’s quite small and looks a bit like a fuzzy teddy bear, but – wow – those fangs are big. Buck: Hey, this is my land, and I don’t like trespassers! Charlie: But I’m Charlie from Eco Kids Planet magazine. I’ve come to meet you. Buck: Well,…

FUNNIEST CALL-OUTS! The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) gets over a million calls a year. Sometimes, the rescuer gets a big surprise when they go out to help an animal. They’vejust revealed their funniest call-outs of 2020! In November, a woman in West Yorkshire rang to report an owl stuck on top of a telegraph pole. She was certain it was stuck because it hadn’t moved for several days. When a rescuer drove down to launch a rescue mission, he zoomed in on the bird with his phone’s camera. It was a plastic owl statue! In February, a Manchester man rang. He’d spotted two large red and black snakes playing in his bedroom, but they’d disappeared. When he called back to say they’d returned, a…

What you need: • White plate or bowl• Skittles (we used the large ones)• Jug of water What to do: Step 1: Line the edge of your plate with Skittles. You can put them in any colour arrangement. Step 2: Slowly pour some water into the centre of your plate/bowl until it reaches halfway up the Skittles. If the Skittles move, quickly push them back into place. Step 3: Sit and watch the rainbow come to life. Can you see the different colours travelling across the plate? What is happening? Skittles are coated in sugar and food colouring. When the water makes contact with the Skittles, this coloured sugary coating dissolves and spreads through the water – a process known as diffusion. This gradually changes the colour of the water.…

Swamp tortoise or swamp turtle? Whatever you call it, our changing climate is causing serious problems for this wetland-dwelling creature. It’s now the rarest reptile in the whole of Australia! Western swamp… what? This puzzling species is known as the western swamp tortoise in Australia (the only country that it lives in), but it also goes by the name of western swamp turtle. So which one is it? Well, technically, it’s more turtle than tortoise, but let’s avoid confusion and call it the WST! Swamp city The WST is found in the wetlands of Western Australia. There are only about 200 of these endangered reptiles surviving in a few freshwater swamps near the city of Perth. iTortoise The WST’s shell is about the same length as a mobile phone (11-15cm),…

Many birds use tools, but only one makes musical instruments! Palm cockatoos make drumsticks from branches. They snap off a branch, strip off its bark, then grip it in their foot. Then they beat out a regular rhythm on a tree trunk with it – just like a human drummer – to attract a female. Palm cockatoos are only found in Australia and its neighbour New Guinea. Sadly, new research reveals that these unique drumming birds are in peril. Their numbers are going down fast and may halve in the next 50 years. The females only lay one egg every two years, and predators have been eating them. They’re also suffering habitat loss from bushfires and mining. Researchers want them classified as endangered and given some serious protection. I agree!…

WETLANDS CROSSWORD Across 1. A yellow-green plant that grows on the surface of some pools 5. Living in water 6. Fancy-feathered, boomerang-beaked, algae-eater 7. Which bird is featured on the RSPB logo? 9. A baby deer Down 2. A mega wetland in Florida, USA 3. A tiny freshwater crustacean found in a puddle 4. A carnivorous plant 5. On which continent is the western swamp tortoise found? 8. Which river ends in the sands of the Kalahari Desert? WILD QUESTIONS Test your knowledge with these multiple-choice questions. No wild guesses! What is the difference between a marsh and a swamp? Which of the following creatures are NOT found in wetlands? Where does flamingos’ pink colour come from? FIND 10 DIFFERENCES SWAMP MAZE Four frogs caught a mosquito, a fly and…